Page 74 of October
“Well, now you’re being a brat, so I’m thinking about taking it back.” India smiled back. “I have to run. I’ve got a lunch meeting that I need to get to, but I’m sorry if I caused you problems.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” she replied. “And sorry for dragging you in here.”
“Yeah… That’s not a great idea if Molly already thinks we’re getting back together, Fin.”
“She went home sick.”
“Shit. Sorry,” India said.
“Yeah, me too.”
CHAPTER 20
Molly drove home in a daze and didn’t know what to do. She still had to work because she wasn’t actually sick. Yes, her mind was racing, and her heart was thundering, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make it to her meetings remotely, so she set her stuff up at her kitchen table and pushed a vase out of the way to make room for her computer. Then, she looked up, realizing the vase was filled with two flowers from Finley, awaiting the remainder of that dozen she had been promised; one for each date they’d go on. For just a second, she allowed herself to believe that it would still happen and wondered if, after the flowers all died or after she got the first dozen, Finley would keep getting her a flower for each date. She shook her head at herself, picked up the vase, and moved it into the kitchen, where she couldn’t see it while she worked.
Having made herself some coffee before she sat down, she tried to push all thoughts of Finley and India out of her mind. She almost wished she had a morning full of meetings to offer a proper distraction, but today, of all days, she only had one in the morning and two in the afternoon. Molly did have a lot of work to do, though. At the end of the year, there would be a performance review process. Technically, part of it had already kicked off, with managers heading into meetings and training sessions to learn about the process if they were new this year orlearn about the changes the company had made to it if they’d been here before.
She also had to review all of the recommended promotions. Each manager had to fill out a form to tell HR in advance who they were planning on promoting and why. Part of Molly’s job was to review the requests for the departments she partnered with and ask any questions or ask for more information from the managers in order to make the approval process go smoothly, so she opened the requests she already had and began reviewing and taking notes.
By lunchtime, she was starving and needed to stand up for a few minutes, so she went into the kitchen and opted to make herself a quick grilled cheese sandwich. While spreading butter on bread, Molly thought about Wells and how the dog really had just done whatever she had wanted, regardless of what the other dogs had done around her, and that made her smile. She decided that she needed to at least make the call, so she put the sandwich on the stove and grabbed her phone.
“Hi. Um… I was interested in adopting a dog,” she said once someone answered after a few rings.
“Oh, great. Have you been to our facilities before?”
“I went to a puppy party thing the other day, and the woman there gave me this number to call if I wanted to adopt a puppy from the event,” she said.
“Yeah, no problem. Did you get the name of the dog?”
“Wells,” she replied. “She’s a corgi.”
“Ah, that litter,” the woman said. “Let me check to see if she’s still available for adoption. Give me just a second.”
“Of course,” Molly replied as she checked on the sandwich, wanting it to get nice and crispy on one side before she flipped it and waited.
“Okay,” the woman from the puppy place said as she removed her from being on hold. “So, Wells is a popular littlegirl, and a family has already submitted their application to adopt her.”
“Oh,” Molly uttered. “I see.”
She’d waited too long.
“Having said that, it looks like they’ve also submitted an application for another puppy from the same litter. I’m not sure if they’re interested in adopting two dogs or if they just couldn’t choose between them, so they applied for both. The other one is available, and based on their application, I can’t see them being denied. Would you mind if I take a little time to reach out to them to confirm and get back to you? I’d still recommend you apply for Wells. She’s had another person apply. They ended up going for another dog instead, but I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be here.”
“I can still apply?” Molly asked.
“Of course. People apply all the time. We need to make sure our animals are going to good homes, though, so applications don’t guarantee anything. Besides, people withdraw all the time, too, so it’s always good to have your application next up on our pile.”
“Okay. I’ll do that,” she said, feeling slightly better.
“Great. It’s online. Do you have the link?”
“Yes, I do. Thank you.”
“And just as a tip, puppies are popular, so it’s likely we’ll get more applications for Wells. You could have a backup dog in mind just in case.”
“I have my heart set on Wells,” she said.
“Then, I’ll recommend something else. On the application, there’s a section asking why you want to adopt. Add in something special about why you want to make Wells part of your family. It’ll help you stand out.”
